Well?
THE local spending measures signed into law last week by the outgoing governor will fund a municipal scholarship program, other government offices, Little League baseball, a beach bathroom, a basketball court, road improvement, flood control, and various other projects and programs on Saipan.
In other words, (government) business as usual. Collect money from the people who earned it, and redistribute the moolah — directly or indirectly — to people who vote.
But take note that the usual funding source for these and a lot of other goodies is legalized gambling: specifically, poker license fees and the leftover Saipan casino license fees. Poker arcades and the (shuttered) casino are among the island’s most “unpopular” establishments based on the public pronouncements of many politicians — including those who eagerly appropriate gambling monies for their “pet projects” and breathlessly claim credit for their implementation like roosters who think the sun rises because they crow.
But once these funding sources dry up, what then?
In Sept. 2017, the Settlement Fund trustee reported that the CNMI government was able to make weekly $1 million payments, “in part, because of the increased Casino GRT revenue collected in 2016 and 2017. The Casino GRT has developed into a primary source of revenue for the Government.”
Today, the Saipan casino is either in a coma or dead already. The islands’ population is dwindling and the only industry, tourism, has yet to recover. Soon, the CNMI’s lifeline — the
ARPA funds — will be gone, and the outlook for many tax-paying, employee-hiring businesses, including poker arcades, is bleak.
Some will say, “Good riddance to poker arcades and the casino.” Fine. So with no gambling monies or ARPA funds, and with the piddling amount of revenue generated by the tourism industry, how can the CNMI government pay the Settlement Fund, the retirees’ 25% benefit, government payroll, medical referrals, the costs of public education, scholarships, public safety, public works, payments to vendors, among many other ongoing obligations?
We’ve repeatedly asked this question throughout 2022. Perhaps someone on Capital Hill will try to answer it this year.
Regarding the DPS transition report
WITHOUT looking at the dates or the names in the DPS transition report, an old-timer would assume he was reading a document from the NMI archives:
Retaliation. Nepotism and cronyism. Political discrimination. Micromanagement. Training deficiencies.
Is there a government agency — now and then — that does not have these “issues”?
In the late 1970s, the first CNMI governor mentioned the “problems” with DPS as one of his administration’s main challenges. One of his successors chose a police official from the states as DPS chief to avoid “nepotism and cronyism.” That didn’t work out well. Another governor appointed a commissioner who was reputed to be a “trustworthy, ethical, and qualified individual with a law enforcement background.” He was later charged with sexual abuse of a minor.
In this digital age, in any case, we suggest that concerned citizens download and save copies of the transition reports which should be available online. Then when the next administration comes along, compare its transition reports with the old ones in your file. It could be an eye-opening experience.
